Supermarkets squeezed by discounters

THE big five supermarkets lost market share in the 12 weeks to April 26, the latest grocery data reveals.

Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons and The Co-operative all saw sales fall in the period, Kantar Worldpanel said, while the German discounters Aldi and Lidl and Waitrose all grew.

Asda was the worst performer, down 2.2% in the period, while Sainsbury’s reported the most marginal decline of 0.2%. Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK, saw its market share fall 1% to 28.4%, while Morrisons was down 1.1% to 10.9% and The Co-op declined 1% to 6%.

Aldi continued to be the best performer with 15% growth in the period, followed by Lidl + 10.1% and Waitrose +1.5%.

Regarding The Co-op, Kantar Worldpanel said the mutual had seen a slight increase in footfall as it tries to exit larger format supermarkets to concentrate on convenience stores.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Growth in the market has declined thanks to a record low for grocery price deflation: a typical basket of everyday items is now 2.1% cheaper than it was in 2014. Lower costs are the result of both falling commodity prices and the ongoing supermarket price war, with all major retailers offering cheaper like-for-like goods.

“This is good news for consumers, saving the average household £20 in the last three months. But many of the country’s largest grocers have struggled to enjoy substantial growth, with lower prices taking £532m out of supermarket tills.”

McKevitt added: “German discounters Aldi and Lidl continue to be the fastest growing retailers, up by 15.1% and 10.1% respectively. Both are rewarded with new record high market shares: 5.4% for Aldi and 3.8% for Lidl. While such growth is the envy of the industry it is slower than in recent months, suggesting the discounter momentum is starting to slow a little.”
 

Close